


Mona vs Surd

by racesgirl2000



Category: Mona the Vampire, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-02-13 13:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12984600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/racesgirl2000/pseuds/racesgirl2000
Summary: The year is 2015, things have changed in the town of Villa Park and just as things were normal for Mona Parker and her friends, Dr Jeremiah Surd arrives or does he?





	1. Chapter 1

"Charlie?"

Charlie Bones turned and grinned when he saw the familiar green eyes.

"What's up?"

"That's exactly what I was about to ask you."

Charlie grimaced.

"Lily, it's way too early in the morning to start mind games. What the hell are you talking about?"

Lily Bones (nee Duncan) shook her head.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Charlie," said Lily. "You've been moping around here like someone just died."

Charlie's face fell for a moment, and he tried unsuccessfully to pull off his trademark lopsided grin. Lily and their friend Mona Jamell (nee Parker) both caught it.

"God, Charlie, I had no idea," said Mona. "Sorry..."

"Don't worry about it."

They stood there for a few awkward moments. The tension was getting to Mona and Lily who weren't buying Charlie's carefree facade.

"Who...?"

"Don't. I...don't want to talk about it right now. By tomorrow, I'll be my usual psychotic self." He smiled slightly.

Charlie turned and walked away. Lily did the same, brow furrowed as she thought Well, George's fine with this James Bond's crap Lieutenant Halcroft's putting him through, Lawrence said that Lance and Claire haven't had an assassination attempt on them for several weeks, Lottie's doing great with Josh, Daniel's in New Orleans for his grandpa's funeral and I'd have heard if Mona's mom's okay...so who?

She thought about his expression for a moment, when she had blundered onto the problem. Those deep blue eyes tensing in pain...The thought that *she* had caused it made it unbearable. If Charlie wasn't going to talk about it, then she'd have to force it out of someone else.

"Hey, George!"

George Jamell tensed for a moment. He had heard Lieutenant David Halcroft use that tone of voice before.

"Lieutenant..." gasped George turning his head.

"What?" He asked brightly, a sweet smile on her lips. George and his best friend/fellow security guard Josh Soremeken cringed.

"If we did something to offend you..." Josh began.

Damn. thought Halcroft having had used this trick one too many times.

"Ah, screw it. George, I've got another mission for you." said Halcroft taking George to one side. George nodded.

"You've noticed?" George asked, his usual calm voice replaced with excitement at the chance for more James Bond style stuff.

"George, of course I've noticed," said Halcroft. "Your cousin Officer Lane Ashley told me 3 days ago that Dr Jeremiah Surd's been sulking for the past week. God..." She paced up and down the St Faith's mall. "That guy's been acting so moody lately, not angry, just...sad. And his twin sister Claire said that the guy's being an SOB."

George smiled in an odd "I know something you don't know" kind of way. Then his face turned grim as he said "You're kidding me, right?"

"WHAT?" Halcroft exploded. "What the Hell was that grin about? You tugged me along like that and you don't even know?"

"No but me and the guys've noticed some of the people in this town acting the same way," said George. "Something very bad's gonna happen and something tells me that none of Surd's gang'll talk about it. Sometimes, Surd and Mr J are too alike..."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm going to ask Charlie to help you," said Halcroft. "I'm sure you don't mind."

George thought for a moment and asked "Where did Lance say Surd was hiding?"

"He said that Surd's using Al Capone's old hideout," Halcroft replied. "If I can get you and Charlie in there, I'm sure it'll help if even for a couple of hours."

"Sure." said George smiling.

Charlie tried again.

"George, seriously, I'm alright." said Charlie.

"Dude, this has damn all to do with how you feel," said George flinching at his lie. "Halcroft thinks that Surd's up to something said said that we can both beat you hands down. It'll be coolos."

Charlie riled immediately at this. "Okay," he said sighing at his bully-cum-buddy's pleas to help him save Villa Park and the rest of the world. "Tell Halcroft I'm in."

George smiled. Sometimes, this was just too easy.


	2. Chapter 2

George smiled at Charlie as they were both in his red Corvette Amy and said "Surd really musta laid it on thick."

"I am so gonna kick his shiny metal ass all the way to Hell, man." said Charlie as his sudden grin mirrored George's.

"You think you got beef with that metal assed SOB?" asked George as he turned to Al Capone's old hideout; Charlie had practically grown up on stuff like this and George only knew the basics after a few insane missions fro Halcroft. He was going to rub Surd's nose in it afterwards but somehow, Charlie didn't care.

At least he hates Surd as much as I do... thought George as he turned to see Charlie getting out of Amy with George in tow.

"I hope Halcroft's not outside watching this." said Charlie, Hadji's voice was designed for false bravado.

George stalled for a moment.

"What the-?" he began as he saw two men waking past them laughing. George had thought it was so obvious that Surd had set Halcroft up. He turned, expecting to see Charlie trailing. He was right behind her.

"Damn, damn, damn..." George muttered to himself.

"Nice try, George." said Charlie as both continued to chase any Surd associates, easily negotiating the terrain. Charlie was much slower dodging the Surd men, after all, he was a geeky young man of 25 years old. He hadn't even sen much James Bond movies before he became friends with George. He was pulled out of thoughts by George suddenly appearing beside him smirking like a madman. Both looked back up the trail.

A Surd henchman was on the ground, blood pouring from his left arm.

"What the hell?" asked Charlie as he and George sprinted across the hall to the prone man. The man looked up and said "We got a couple of spies from WOOHP."

George turned in time to block a pistol whip, the blow easily breaking his arm. He screamed in pain.

Charlie was suddenly beside him hitting the man in a frenzy. He was kicking and thrashing but George quickly saw what she was doing. The man couldn't get a decent swing but still relied on his weapon, meaning Charlie was soundly beating the crap out of him. Suddenly, he stopped. Grabbing the man's gun wrist in his left hand, he turned catching the armpit to the same arm. As he turned, he threw the man over and he flipped straight over her, landing in a heap at his feet.

"Ow! You landed on my foot, you SOB!" said Charlie as he kicked him for emphasis.

George gritted his teeth, fighting the pain as he said "I don't remember Halcroft ever teaching us that one."

"I don't remember you ever being related to Halcroft." Charlie said back.

"Ah," said George. "Special training?"

Charlie grinned then started back to the men and another man came by, gun in hand. George quickly grabbed the gun from Charlie's unconscious adversary. He turned to contestant number 2 and calmly raised the pistol. The man raised his own pointing it at Charlie, Charlie stopped in his tracks. He stumbled; there was no nearby cover to hide behind. He closed his eyes and heard a loud crack. He opened them again. The man was on the ground, blood pouring from his arm. Charlie looked away. The man was quite clutching his arm groaning and he turned to George.

"That was too close." said Charlie catching George's expression.

"What?" asked George standing there, gun hanging loosely from his fingers. His eyes were red and he was staring in at the man who was groaning as if Race Bannon had shot him instead.

"George, you saved me...he would've killed me." said Charlie.

George didn't move. He looked so lost, so vulnerable....

"Hey, don't forget about me over here," said a voice from behind them as Lorenzo Alejandro pulled himself up. "If I get my hands on..."

He looked up, and wished he hadn't. Pain was exploding in his stomach.

"Dude, we better run." said George as the gun had fallen out of his hand but he hadn't moved. What do I do?

"Ah, crap." said Lorenzo as he stared at both Charlie and George.

"George, what's going on?" asked Charlie terrified at the sight of Lorenzo. "What the hell's Lorenzo Alejandro doing here? We all know that Surd tried to destroy Chicago with nerve gas 25 years ago, I know but...."

Charlie looked down at his nerdish friend and said "We'll go find Surd and I'll ask Halcroft to explain."


	3. Chapter 3

George rolled his eyes. Of course just because Halcroft asked him and Charlie to track Surd down didn't mean they had to bum into Lorenzo Alejandro face to face even if it killed them. Lorenzo held a handgun at them as they walked down the hall. If people knew Lorenzo, he had to tell Dr Surd who jut dropped by but couldn't tell George or Charlie. He snarled. The guy could get positively nasty towards people who hurt his family and friends. He knew he'd kill them, Lorenzo was sure. Charlie frowned at George as they walked side by side. George's mother had insisted his black Harley Davidson Sandra go to the garage his mechanic of a brother-in-law Andy Ross worked at despite George nearly getting injured in the last bike race. Oddly enough, George didn't try to ham them up.

"Giorgio?" asked Charlie. "Aren't you supposed to be whining about your arm?"

George didn't reply.

"George?" said Charlie waving his hand in front of his face. After a couple of seconds, he started to panic. Then he blinked and swiped at his friend's hand.

"Charlie?" asked George. "What the hell are you doing?"

Charlie breathed out in relief. He hadn't realised he was holding his breath.

"You spaced out for a couple of minutes. What the hell were you thinking?" asked Charlie already knowing the answer.

"Stuff." said George.

Charlie groaned as he thought back to yesterday. He hadn't realised it at the time but despite his efforts, George had changed the subject about comparing his ex best friend Angela Smith to Dr Jeremiah Surd rather eloquentely and asked "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." said George guessing what Charlie meant.

"Hey, break it up." snarled Lorenzo as they all stopped outside a couple of large doors. For the briefest of moments, Charlie and George were both shocked. George knew Lorenzo well, maybe even better than Dr Surd did. It was so obvious that he was hurting to get his hands on Surd and Lorenzo wasn't even trying to help him. Or let them help.

"Damnit." said Charlie as he and George were forced to sit in front of a desk. Lorenzo sighed and put the gun down. He had been dreading this.

"I got a couple of spies, boss." said Lorenzo, his voice quiet.

The chair turned around. It was the one person George and Charlie weren't expecting to see in a crappy place like this.

"Whoa..." said both George and Charlie at the same time.

"Thank you, Lorenzo." said Angela, her voice steady. It sounded almost...threatening. George got up and went to beat Lorenzo up as he left. Lorenzo slammed the door in his face. Angela looked at her ex best friend. Her face softened.

"I's sit the hell back down if I were you," said Angela as George groaned and obeyed Angela. "If you try to pull that stunt again, you two are dead. I'm sure the good Lieutenant'll be alright after a week..."

Charlie suddenly whirled on her, anger etched across his face.

"It's been 7 years since we last met, you psycho bitch," snarled Charlie. "Seven! Mona and Lily won't be alright if you carry on like this."

Angela groaned inwardly. Charlie could be just as stubborn as her father. For the hundreth time, she considered sending Mona's vampire ass all the way to Hell. This crap with her man Jimmy the Snake's father was dangerous; the man was notoriously unpredictable where his family were concerned. Johnny the Fox had hated guns since his own father's death in 1985. The shooting was going to open a few old wounds, and he didn't know how Johnny and the Tubby Man would react. She looked at these idiots, a geek who looked like Brad Pitt and an idiot who looked like Johnny Depp. Both were defiantely staring back at him.

"It may protect my Jimmy from his father's temper but Johnny'll hate me if I shot someone just when his son's getting released in 2 weeks," said Angela. "You dumbasses got my baby sent away."

"Damn you, bitch," growled George. "The amount of times we've all been willing to throw away our own life to save each other in this town...we have to." said George, his look of defiance changed to one of desperation.

The shock of her man being sent to prison hit Angela hard. It wasn't living here that she loved. She loved Jimmy but how much, and in what way...

Great. Was George the first person to figure this out? The most womanizing person of their 4th Grade class? The one who couldn't even figure out his own wife's feelings before it was too late? The irony made him chuckle dryly.

"What?" whispered Charlie. "Why'd you laugh?"

George smiled. He had figured Angela's emotions out before she had.

"Okay. We'll still stop you." said George as Angela glared at him and Charlie.

I could be wrong...why'd I notice it so late? thought George. I've been wrong before and she's so much like Jimmy the freaking Snake...someone else must have figured it out by now.

Mona giggled. The joke was of the usual Jack Black quality as she and Lily were watching School of Rock on DVD but it was good that he was actually talking. They both stopped laughing at the same time causing a companiable silence. Lily sighed inwardly. She hadn't heard from Charlie since he and George left 2 hours ago. It was the only way she could think of helping him. She was going to hate herself later but she had to help him. It was that simple.

"Lily," said Mona. "Tell me about your cousin Carley McNamara again."

For a moment, Lily's eyes tensed. She considered using George's usual trick of joking her way out of situations.

"She's a shopaholic and a known party girl, Mona," said Lily. "I'm so totally sure you'll love her." Her tone was light but then she sighed and frowned.

"I guess so." said Mona.

"Great," said Lily. "She's coming by next weekend."

"If I remember, she had a crush on George when were in 4th Grade and she was in 3rd Grade!" said Mona as she tried to hide from Lily's eyes. Lily caught her chin and gently forced her to look at her. Mona looked into Lily's emerald eyes and realised there was more than concern. It slowly dawned on Mona that she cared about everything and everyone a lot.

"That's right, Carley was as mad about George as most girls were," said Lily giggling. "It was always George Jamell this and George Jamell that."

This was too much for Mona who already knew that.

"Lily, you're right, Carley was cray about George," said Mona. "For God's sake, you're a year and a half older than her."


	4. Chapter 4

George looked behind him. Charlie, who he was tied back to back to, was asleep. He suddenly remembered that before Lorenzo Alejandro and Julia Faraday tied them back to back, he brushed a lock of golden hair away from his friend's eyes and glanced at the door to the familiar sight of Amy outside. For a few minutes, he turned to the mirror opposite Charlie watching him sleep, his chest rising and sinking gently with each breath. He shook his head and fell asleep himself. This was way too big for him to handle; he needed someone to talk to.

"Hey, dude," George told Lorenzo who stood sat bolt before him and Charlie. "How the hell could you let this happen?"

Lorenzo and Julia both shifted uneasily under George's furious stare. The usually spacious room suddenly seemed to shrink.

"There were two of them..." snapped Julia.

"We were supposed to be protecting each other!" Lorenzo snapped back.

George's eyes dropped to the floor. He guessed Charlie had every right to hate him. After all, it was his job and he had failed. He imagined how he would feel if Lily and Mona got captured instead of them.

"I'm sorry." George whispered to his sleeping friend, the wild look in his eyes disappeared. "Oh my God."

George was stunned. He knew Halcroft was capable of wanting revenge, that he'd want to punish Surd but to kill him? He realised he had made a mistake telling him. He hadn't told Josh out of fear of him going crazy. George could deal with Jake's non stop talking, Jerry's flirting with girls and Josh's humor; it was the kind of stuff George was used to.

"Before you even tell me to kill Surd, Charlie, you know I can't do that," said George. "Please, take some time to cool off. Getting angry won't help our situation."

Meanwhile at Mona and George's apartment, Lily glanced up from the fashion magazine she was reading while Mona came in with two mugs of hot chocolate.

"Hey, Mona." said Lily as Mona walked up to George's usual easy chair in quick agitated steps.

"Lily, I need to talk to you." said Mona.

"This is about Halcroft turning George into Villa Park's very own James Bond, right?" asked Lily as Mona frowned. She hated it when Lily did that.

"I know why he does this," said Mona. "God, I'm not sure he'd want me to tell you this..."

Lily looked sadly at her friend and asked "It's to make amends for all the crap he put us through during Grade School, right?"

Mona took an involuntary step back and asked "You know?" Something clicked in her mind.

"You knew before, when I asked...didn't you?" said Lily. It was a statement, not a question.

"It's okay, Lily," said Mona. "I understand."

Lily nodded and asked her friend "What did your mom and Halcroft tell you? All I know, George is more into spy movies than the rest of us and as far as I know, it's kept him...unsettled."

"He told me everything," sighed Mona. "He told me how he got inspired by my dad's story of how he ran into Surd when he was in High School."

"Huh?" Lily took perverse glee in actually manage to unsettle Mona. "But I had no idea that your dad would open up about Surd to anyone...not us...not your mom...not even you."

Meanwhile in Angela's hideout, Charlie woke up to find himself in pitch black and thought Nothing unusual about that, I've been sleeping badly lately.

For some reason, he didn't feel troubled anymore. He felt stirring behind him as George woke up from behind him. Both tried to stand up but ended up banging into each other by accident.

"Ow, damn..." George groaned from behind Charlie and both struggled for a moment before realizing where they were. Then, George's memories finally caught up with him. "Before you start, Halcroft's gonna be so angry with me..."

"George, he won't be angry with you," said Charlie as that same "I know something you don't know" smile appeared on his face. "I very much doubt anthing you could do would tick the old guy off."

"Dude, take that stupid grin off your face." said George seriously starting to panic, wanting to pace the room and Charlie's calm demeanour and unusual grin which had been popping up more and more lately weren't helping much.

"George, if it helps, I won't tell that Lorenzo guy." said Charlie as the door flew open.

"Tell me what?" said Lorenzo leaning on the doorway. He seemed...amused at something. Neither George or Charlie moved to tell Lorenzo anything. He frowned.

"Has something happened?" asked Julia from behind Lorenzo.

Both George and Charlie looked at Julia. Lorenzo had little doubt that Angela would keep this secret. George's conscience was really starting to get to him.

"Dude, I had to..." George began to say.

"Damnit, what's up?" asked Julia.

"You're plan sucks." Charlie blurted it out and George smiled.

"That's it, you two are going back to the boss's office." said Lorenzo as he and Julia untied George and Charlie and dragged them to Angela's office.


	5. Chapter 5

As they went to Dr Surd's old hideout, Mona and Lily chose not to look round at the bitch of a former classmate who entered the building. Instead, they surveyed the exterior of the place admiring what a dump it was. Both watched as a seagull, a beautiful kind he didn't know the name of,   
fluttered past and Lily almost sighed with pleasure. Mona coughed lightly scaring the hell out of poor Lily.

"Now what, Mona?" asked Lily turning to face Mona, worry evident on every inch of her face. She strode over and wanted to slap the crap out of Angela. Then, as suddenly as it had arrived, the worry drained from her face leaving the complacent half-smile of a moment before.

"Sorry to interrupt you, Lily but there was a slight problem with Angela," Mona growled the name. "...She's a total bitch."

Lily cocked her head in amusement and said "You totally said it."

Mona hesitated and said "Lily, we're going in."

Mona's smile turned to a small frown. Her voice's pitch didn't alter at all as she said "You're one bad dude, Mona Jane Jamell."

Mona nodded and said "Thanks, Lily Rose Bones." A small bead of sweat ran down her cheek, yet she maintained her affable countenance.

"Do you think we'll find the guys, Mona?" asked Lily as both she and Mona entered the old Surd hideout.

"Sure we will, Lily." said Mona as they searched the rooms for George and Charlie.

Lily was horrified. She abandoned trying to maintain her dignity and trembled and closed her eyes as she thought Not here. Not like this...

"Damn Angela." said George's voice from one of the rooms which caused Mona's eyes to flick open. She nodded and left, tripping over the step on the way out. Lily smiled. Charlie was probably there to.

Lorenzo stalked the hallway. He was angry with everyone and everything. It had occured to Lorenzo that everything happening in the past week had been blamed or forced on him. He was blamed for that dumbass cop's arm which he accepted. The business over Dr Surd was being sorted out by Julia who seemed to know the guy's emotions better than anybody had realised. The thing he was having trouble with was his conflicted thoughts over those nosy dudes who he and Julia caught sneaking around the place. Lorenzo had never before believed he had enough thoughts for them to be conflicted. He rounded the corner. And walked into another guardsman.

As Mona and Lily sneaked past, they barely registered the force. Mona glanced round as Lily opened the door to find Charlie and George tied back to back again.

"Oh hey, girls." said both George and Charlie at the same time.

Both stopped. Charlie was looking startled and for some reason, Mona felt there was yet another problem.

"Hey, guys." said Mona, her voice dry, she needed a drink.

"Is something wrong?" Lily's voice snapped Mona out of her thoughts.

"Nothing." said Charlie smiling. He could tell George wasn't buying it but let it slide.

"Lorenzo's near this door." said George as if on cue, Lorenzo stepped into the door and the four of them realised Julia and Angela were already in here, both looking like they had forgotten to buy tickets to sail on The Titanic.

"Is everything alright in here?" asked Julia looking questioningly at Lorenzo who in turn looked at Angela.

"Sure." said Lorenzo, his voice at its usual half joking tone, his lopsided grin was in its usual position. Angela thought about this. What the hell was that vampire bitch doing here? She looked over at Julia, Lorenzo forgotten for the moment.

"Honestly, I mean it, Julia, it's alright," said Angela. "I was coming in here to tell the Grusome Twosome as it was."

George glared at Angela as Mona gave up trying to figure out what was going on and prceded to attacking Angela. Lily followed suit, Julia and Lorenzo sharing a glance that said 'let's grab them' which they did.

"You know, Angela, you contacted your contacts..." said Mona realising what Halcroft told her and grinned at her awful "pun." "...almost 20 hours ago, right?"

Angela nodded. She had a sneaking suspicion that Mona was up to something and she didn't want to betray Dr Surd's trust again.

"Has anyone got back to you yet?" asked Julia.

"No." said Angela who had no compuncture about lying to someone to protect them.

"They're being awful slow about this, aren't they?" said George, his smile beginning to get on Angela's nerves.

"We gave them almost nothing to work with," snarled Angela. "The guardsman you knocked out cold..." she galred at George. "...hasn't regained consciousness yet. As soon as they find anything out, I'll let you know."

Charlie felt his throat constrict. Angela was as compulsive a liar as she was in 5th Grade, something he had promised himself and Marnie he wouldn't do unless absolutely necessary. Charlie began to feel that Angela's voice wasn't calm, it was downright cold. Angela had a thumping headache. Her mind slowly seemed to clarify. She remembered when she was 17, she had walked in on a conversation between her husband Jimmy the Snake and his father Johnny the Fox and said "I blame the in-laws." 

"George, it's alright," said Charlie. "I...I'm sorry I snapped. It's just....Angela's a..." 

As Charlie closed his eyes, George wished there was something he could do to help his friend and said "It's okay, Char."

Charlie nodded sadly. Lorenzo opened the door to the cell and allowed Angela and Julia out first. The younger woman was staring blankly at a space on the floor a couple of feet in front of her.

This is gonna be painful for all of us. thought Mona starting to hate herself. It wasn't her fault George found out; the stress of her knowing was going to hurt both of them.

"Well, since there's no point hiding it any more, we can all go through what is known so far." said George sadly while Mona was resolutely trying to force Charlie and Lily to pay attention.

"Please, Mona, go on." said Charlie, his reassuring tone helping Mona a lot. It was good to know that someone else could help her carry the burden.

"Right. Angela's said that Johnny the Fox was her dad in law. What David told me, however, is that he deals with illegal weapons and "exotic" technology. He's attempted to get a hold of a load of technology in this town before..." Mona didn't want to continue. He looked over at Charlie and Lily who, along with George, all nodded sadly. "...and Angela's mom was killed in one attempt 5 years ago."

"Halcroft told me that Johnny the Fox is near impossible to find or catch; he slipped away with apparent ease the last time he was located. The dude sent the last time was from his wife's native Detroit like Lily and he wasn't very well trained. From this, we can surmise that he was sent to test the security or test us. They may even have been sent to get us spooked," George sighed. "He also told me that the CIA are using satellite tracking to find him but are having no luck whatsoever."

"But they know we're here..." Lily started.

"Yeah but this is the safest place to be if Jimmy gets it into his head he wants another hostage." said Charlie.

"I can't believe you just said that." gasped Mona, her face set. Everyone turned to look at him, even Charlie.

"What?" Lily was confused.

"Where was Angela when her dad was was in pain?" asked Mona. "Her mom had just died....and we all completely ignored me!"

"You were the same way when your dad died, Mona." said George.

"I know," sighed Mona. "My mom said that life must go on. Damnit, all we wanted was someone to be there for us. What the hell's wrong with this town?"

"Guys, I'm sorry..." said George as Mona, Charlie (who turned his head) and Lily all stared at him.

"Oh, God, this is all my fault..." sobbed Charlie as Lily hugged him tightly.


	6. Chapter 6

The police officers burst into Dr Surd's old hideout, handguns raised. Officer Lance Ashley was a step behind them wishing he had one handy. Lieutenant Lorenzo Mariano frantically searched the compound shouting for his colleague's cousin. He found a Surd guardsman face down in the hallway. Lorenzo carefully turned the man over and groaned when he found the tranquiliser dart. Pulling the dart out, he noticed Lance's twin sister and George's colleague and cousin Claire suddenly appear beside him with Josh Soremeken. Lorenzo was on the verge of panic; too much was happening and he'd had no time to organise his thoughts and asked "Any sign?"

Claire smiled when she recognised Lorenzo's voice and said "The dude's a jackass. He's unconscious of course but Lance doesn't think he was the target; Surd was."

"Hey, this place isn't safe," Josh gasped. "Somehow, the security was disabled."

Halcroft came up to them and shook his head at Claire; stating the obvious must be in the police handbook. Lance and Claire both pushed past her and asked "Which is a polite way of saying that you're both staying with me?"

Something inside Claire snapped. She was angry at Lieutenant Lorenzo for stopping her like this, he was angry at George for coming here without telling her and most of all, she was angry at Lance. With one foot, she heaved away from the door. Lorenzo may have been more experienced than Claire but he certainly wasn't stronger. He pushed her back before he realized Claire was actually moving with her. Lance used the door as a springboard; kicking off from it and flipping backwards over Lorenzo with Claire in tow.Lorenzo span; preparing himself for Surd's inevitable arrival and came face to face with a blonde woman with a gun.

"Holy crap." He breathed the word under his breath. Angela's face was fixed; her brow low over her eyes and mouth a grim line. He could almost feel the hatred coming off her in waves.

"Get against the wall." snarled Angela, her words cold; unemotional.

"Hey, what the hell's happening, sweetheart?" asked Lorenzo feeling panic rising with him. This psycho blonde was the same age as his ex-boss's stepdaughter and her gang, 3 inches shorter than Lorenzo's 5'11" and had lost it.

"I seriously suggest you listen," snarled Angela. "Get against the wall."

The door behind her opened and Angela ignored it. Several gun muzzles were placed against the back of her head.

"Drop the gun, Angela." said George as he, Mona, Charlie and Lily all trained their guns on Angela.

"Where's my Jimmy?" asked Angela.

"Drop the gun, Angela." said Mona as Jimmy the Snake, Angela's fiance of 5 months, came into the room and immediately took in the situation.

"Angie?" asked Jimmy as Angela threw the gun angrily at the floor.

Jimmy walked over to her; the officers and her ex-classmates forgotten. He ran his left hand along her right arm.

"What happened to security?" asked Angela, her voice clipped and she maintained her unfeeling demeanour.

"We haven't had time to..." Charlie began.

"Then why aren't you going after Dr Surd?" asked Angela mockingly and by this time, Lily behind him had had enough. 

"God, this is getting tiresome," groaned Lily. "You know he;s still in the Federal prison."

"He tried to destroy the damn state back on the 70s, Lily," said George from behind Lily. "It wasn't an accident, it wasn't even out of reflex. Halcroft and Mona's dad told us at different times when we were in 4th Grade that Surd knew exactly what he was doing. Every agency in America hated the dude enough...the whole of America hated him." 

"Mona, doesn't this sound a little ridiculous to you?" Lily asked Mona.

Mona looked over at Lily and asked "What if the roles were reversed? What if Surd won? I very much doubt that even David would've been angry."

Charlie opened his mouth to protest but realised Mona was right. He would lay into Surd if he ever hurt them. 

"Right, okay," said George. "So how do you know all this?"

Mona smiled and said "Lorenzo and David discussed it with me and Lily before we got inside."

"God, everything gets done while I'm not around." groaned Charlie.

"That's the only time things can get done, Charlie." Lily grinned.

Charlie tried a weak smile. He needed to sort out everything with Marnie quickly if there was a world left when all this was over.


	7. Chapter 7

Angela smiled. Sometimes, life just fell into place so perfectly. She turned around to see Mona behind her, walked over to her and hit her. Mona grunted, blood running down her face.

"Go to Hell!" said Angela as Jimmy grabbed Mona from behind and grinned.

"You first." growled Mona.

George made his way through the hideout as Charlie and Lily followed, a few steps behind. They turned the corner and found Lorenzo standing in the hallway, fists clenched. Lily and Charlie barely had time to register his presence. Lorenzo grabbed George and bodily lifted him shoving him against the wall. One arm pinned him to the wall while the other was laid across his throat.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" asked Lorenzo as he leaned against George's throat. George gasped and tried to avoid his eyes. Charlie tried to get a hold of Lorenzo's arm but was shoved aside.

"This is mainly Dr Surd's fault." said Charlie but Lorenzo ignored him.

"What did you do, you little SOB?" growled Lorenzo as both Charlie and Lily grab at Lorenzo. They were was suddenly joined by Lance and Claire and they managed to drag Lorenzo off.

"Aw, Hell," said Lorenzo storming past all five of them "Just keep him away from Jimmy and Angie."

Lily turned to Lance and Claire and said "Thanks, guys. I doubt me and Charlie could've stopped Surd on our own."

"Don't worry about it." said Claire as she looked at George who sunk to the ground.

"You two stay here with the Southerners," said George. "I'll be fine."

"Hey, George." said Lance as his cousin stopped on one foot.

"What?" asked George.

"We ain't not entirely sure what's going on but it's obvious that you care about Mona. A lot," said Claire, her voice soothing and George couldn't help but listen. "Talk to her."

Lorenzo and Julia were talking animatedly about something George didn't in the least understand. He saw Mona tied to a chair and stared at her for a moment. She looked so peaceful, her face in complete serenity. She was almost like how she was when they were in 4th Grade. He walked softly so as not to wake her. Kneeling, he brushed a light brown bang out of her eyes. She smiled. He stroked her cheek, fingers sliding over her skin.

"Mona, I'm so glad you're okay." said George as he searched for his penknife to cut his wife of 4 years free.

"George, I knew you'd come." said Mona as she smiled at her husband.

Lorenzo turned around and suddenly told George and Mona "I guess this is the first time I've been the one actually using it to find a dude like you since Race Bannon."

"What do you propose we do?" Claire suddenly snapped out of the reverie caused by the sheer emotion flying around the room.

"Give 'em Project Theresa," said Lily. "It won't run without Questworld as Dr Quest once told us and it'll take them a couple of years to change its programme enough for it to run on any other system."

"But Jimmy and Angela could still kill Mona," said Claire. "We got no way to stop them doing that and we still don't know where they are."

"Place a tracker bug inside the Theresa programme," suggested Lance. "Charlie's equipment is pretty advanced and even if they do find it, they won't know if it's part of Theresa or not."

"No knife is as sharp or dangerous as an imprisoned mind set free." said Lawrence as Charlie and Lily ran off to save Mona and George.

"That doesn't change the fact that there's no guarantee that George, Mona or the rest of Villa Park'll be safe." said Lily getting impatient.

"We'll worry about that later," said Charlie. "Angela'll probably keep Mona and George alive until she and Jimmy get Theresa functioning."

"Are you willing to take that chance?" asked Lily.

"Better to die on your feet than on your knees." said Charlie.


	8. Chapter 8

The computer operator shook his head. The O' Haras would not be happy.

"Erm...Mrs O' Hara?" he said turning to Angela, the usual half-smile on his lips. "There appears to be a problem with the system."

In a fury, Angela smashed the operator across the face and screamed "What the Hell is wrong with it?"

The man stood, gasping and said "Project Theresa isn't compatible with our system, Mrs O' Hara. It'll take us several months, years even to alter Project Theresa's programming to fit our mainframe."

Jimmy snarled, reaching inside his jacket and pulling out a handgun. He held it aiming at the computer operator. For a moment, his hand held the gun rock steady, pure hatred carving his face in stone. The man trembled, he knew he was about to die.

Jimmy's hand began to shake, fingers loosening on the pistol. His eyes were red rimmed.

Should I do this? Jimmy thought as his arm dropped limply by his side, his face returning to its usual pale complexion. The operator thanked his boss silently.

"It's alright, Jimmy. I'll do it." said Angela as she took the gun out of her husband's hand and shot the man.

"Angie?" asked Jimmy as Angela hugged him.

"Everything'll be fine, sweetie," said Angela kissing Jimmy. "That fat SOB Halcroft's still on patrol here."

Jimmy motioned to another man. The man took Angela and left leaving Jimmy staring proudly after wife.

Halcroft followed the hard assed dude to Jimmy's office deep in thought. Suddenly, the man felt Halcroft's arm around his neck, spinning him and pushing him against the wall. He leaned closer, their noses inches apart. Then, he stopped. The man looked down questioningly up at Halcroft, his heart pounding.

"Start talking, jackass," said Halcroft keeping his voice a low whisper while his eyes showed his concern for George and Mona's whereabouts. It took the man a moment to collect himself. For a moment, he had thought...he was certain...

"What?" asked the man.

"where are my stepdaughter and my stepson-in-law since I know your boss goes crazy at times like this," said Halcroft. "Tell me, dammit."

The man tried to focus. He paused for a moment closing his eyes. He had been damn positive he was about to....he shook his head and tried to   
concentrate.

"Go to hell, fat ass." said the man.

"God," said Halcroft, sudden anger flaring up. "I'm surprised he didn't blame you for this..." he indicated his nose which was still swollen.

Suddeny, the door oepend and Jimmy poked his head out.

"Ah, there you are, Mr Halcroft," said Jimmy arrogantly with both arms folded over his chest, "Your stepdaughter and stepson-in-law began to worry when you took too long..."

Jimmy noticed George and Mona, both of whom were still tied up, staring at Halcroft as he entered the room. Halcroft noticed George's left eye was black and a bruise had risen up on his cheek.

"Hey, dude," said George. "Congratulations, Jimmy Jackass beat me in a two on one."

"What've you been up to, Jimmy?" asked Halcroft as his eyes hardened.

"You're no fun anymore." said Jimmy.

"You're getting good at this negotiation stuff, dumb ass," Mona told Jimmy. "Nearly as good as beating a person who's tied to a chair."

Jimmy stood, fists clenched. For a moment he struggled with himself but sat back down on the chair. There were a few moments of tense silence and George opened his mouth to make another snide comment but Mona cut her husband off.

"We know you two used to know each other," said Mona. "Whatever the Hell is going on, open up and quit screwing around."

Halcroft smiled grimly at his stepdaughter and said "Jimmy's father Johnny the Fox accidentally killed my partner. He shot him and Officer Mark Kennedy died right in front of me."

"Mark Kennedy's your partner?" asked George and Mona at the same time.

"Was my partner. For five years," said Halcroft shaking, fists clenched. "I really don't see why those kids are still tied up."

George looked over at Halcroft for help. His eyes had narrowed, his eyes still on Jimmy who grunted.

"For God's sake, we need to recover the Theresa Project," said Claire. "That thing could be used to wipe us out years from now."

George had been brooding for a while now as he said "I have a cunning plan."

Lance, Claire and Lily turned to face him. His voice had taken a cold edge, something rare for Charlie as he said "You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you."

"Huh?" asked Lily.

"He's been using our friends and families against us starting back when that dumb ass took Mona and her mom hostage 4 years ago," said Charlie. "That's one of his greatest fears, to lose someone close to him."

"Are you saying we kidnap Angela?" asked Lance liking this idea. It had a nice irony to it.

"Charlie!" gasped Lily. "How the Hell can you condone something like this?"

"I'm not condoning this idea, Lily. I'm suggesting it," said Charlie as his blue eyes had turned hard. "We won't have to kill anyone this way. We exchange Angela for George, Mona and the Theresa Project. It'll be beneficial for everyone."

"Charlie, the plan wouldn't work anyway." said Claire.

"What?" asked Lance turning to face his twin sister.

"All Jimmy and Angela need to do is hold out 'till Theresa's been integrated into their system," said Claire. "Then they'll be able to come back in time to stop us."

"That'll take a couple of years." said Charlie.

"Yeah but the outcome's the same." said Lance.

"Then we make a separate attempt for Project Theresa," said Lily as her green eyes sparkled. "We grab that bitch Angela, make a run for it and make the swap."

"Me and Claire go for Project Theresa," said Lily. "Charlie, since it was your idea, you and Lance are doing the kidnapping."

"You're putting you and my sister on the hard part of the mission and me and your man on the bitch snatching?" asked Lance.

"Yep," said Lily. "Charlie'll tell us how to get in but I don't want you anywhere near Jimmy until the swap."


	9. Chapter 9

"Lance, I gotta ask you something." said Charlie feeling practically sheepish.

"Shoot." said Lance, his hazel eyes fixed on Charlie's sky blue. The younger man had something on his mind, something that had been bothering him for a while. That much was obvious.

"What's going on with you, Lance?" asked Charlie.

Lance took a deep breath and asked "What are you talking about?"

"I mean, how come half the time you're trying to kill me like George tried to do when we were in 4th Grade and the other half, you're unbelievably smothering?" asked Charlie. "You keep pulling a Jekyll and Hyde thing."

"I was kidding." said Lance who turned to his sister.

"You weren't in there long." said Claire.

 

"I tried, Claire, I really did," said Lance. "Something's seriously getting to him."

"You know, Charlie'd be touched if he knew how much you cared for him." said Claire.

"Yeah, well..." said Lance scratching the back of his head.

"You really should let Lily talk to him," said Claire. "They've been married for 3 years and I didn't disturb you two the other day, did I?"

"Huh?" asked Charlie as he narrowed his eyes. "Claire, I was just checking her nose, that's all."

"Charlie, I'm not stupid." said Claire as she she spoke, there was a slight edge to her voice.

Charlie looked at his bully-cum-buddy's cousin and said "Hey, I didn't mean...I'm sorry."

"You seemed sure of yourself when you were holding her in your arms." said Claire.

 

"If George, Mona or Halcroft have blabbed, Jimmy the Snake could already have that Theresa thing running by now." said Lily.

"Yeah but they haven't." said Charlie as Claire went to speak to Lance.

"How can you be sure?" asked Lily.

"I know," sighed Lily. "Charlie? You were terrified that I'd do something in there. This isn't through fear for me, is it? I can take care of myself, you know."

"I know you could've...it wasn't that...God...I..." said Charlie as he hugged Lily. "Lily...I just...if this goes wrong, then we lose George and Mona. I can't... I'm scared, Lily. I can't let another one of them die. We all miss Mona's dad..I don't want the same thing to happen with her. I can't let that happen. I won't let that happen."

"Charlie, everything'll be fine," said Lily hugging Charlie. "We'll get George and Mona back, no problem." 

"Are you sure you want to come?" asked Lance trying to read Charlie's face.

"Damn right," said Charlie, his voice shaky but determined. "We'll get them back. We have to get them back."

Lily frowned and took Lance aside for a moment, breaking apart from Charlie who stayed with Claire. Her voice dropped to a whisper as she asked "Why are you letting us go with you in the first place? Usually, we have to resort to following you to see any action."

Lance held her gaze as he said "Because I don't want you to get hurt, Lily." Or Charlie.

"But wouldn't taking us with you be more dangerous?" asked Lily.

"Like you said, you'd just end up following me," said Lance. "I want to keep an eye on you."

For a moment, Charlie looked as though he'd crumble again. Lily's heart stopped. She had never seen him this scared, this vulnerable. Then he slowly calmed, his features turning gaunt, haunted as he said "You better be right, Lance. You better be right." He almost whispered the words.


	10. Chapter 10

The shadowy figures stood at the base of the security fence, a 9 foot high solid block of wood topped with barbed wire and meant more as a deterrent than as a real danger. The first figure, a well muscled man, reached into his backpack and pulled out a large, thick cloth, which he threw over the barbed wire. Then he easily reached up and hauled himself over. The second, another man, and a full head shorter than the first, leapt up using the rough surface to take a short hop up the wood before she could place his hands flat on the cloth and he too hauled himself over.

Lance jogged warily down the path. From what he'd heard from George, the description of the place was sketchy at best and he had no idea how far they could rely on his cousin's information. Charlie was a few footfalls behind. Lance could sense rather than hear their presence. They drew close to the corner of the uprising, Lance pressing his back against the cold stone and peering round the corner.

The area was a large maze of alleyways caused by 15 foot high stone embankments for some sort of water supply, all floodlit. Unfortunately, the   
waterways seemed disused, leaving the floor bone dry. A fine gravel caused by stones ground up in the now missing water covered the pathways, making stealth extremely difficult. Sounds echoed ereily through the myriad of passageways, not deadened at all by the solid stone walls. They had no choice but to enter, there really was no other way into the heart of the complex.

From out of one of the multitude of alleys, a guard appeared, barely ten feet away and whistling a tune Lance couldn't place. Lance pressed himself deeper into the shadows, saw the gun the guard was carrying and swore under his breath.

"What is it?" asked Charlie, his voice was barely higher than the wind.

"They're carrying M203 assault rifles. That's Special Ops gear," said Lance as he leaned closer. "We'll be just as dead if they shot us with any other gun, Charlie."

Charlie frowned. Lance had a point. They waited impatiently for the guard to pass. Yawning languidly, he scratched himself resting his gun in the one hand. Lance rolled his eyes. The guard finally sauntered off. Lance scanned the walls for CCTV cameras, then ran through the hall straight down the middle. Charlie was still behind him. They paused when they heard the distinctive scraping of boots on the floor. Lance jack-knifed down one part of the hell, Charlie down another.

The guard was whistling an old Def Leppard song, it echoed down the hallway and made it near impossible for Lance to tell how far away he was or the direction it was coming from.

Lance cursed under his breath. What's with these guys and whistling?

Then the whistling was joined by another tune. He recognized Start it Up from one of George's Rolling Stones CDs. This one seemed closer, in the direction Charlie had gone. It was slowly circling his position. Drawing a large hunting knife from his ankle pouch, he turned facing the sound of the new threat. The man was metres away, he could hear his every step. Lance wound himself up, preparing to pounce.

When the man turned the corner, Lance's heart almost stopped. Charlie swaggered up whistling happily. Lance looked at the younger man as if he were crazy but Charlie grabbed Lance's hand pulling him through the hallway. They passed through the maze, meeting no resistance at all. After searching for several minutes, with Charlie's throat beginning to burn, they found and climbed a rusted ladder, which was bolted directely into the wall exactly as George had described it.

They sat by Jimmy's office door. Charlie finally stopped whistling, his throat dry.

Lance looked at him and whispered "What the Hell just happened?"

"To be honest, you can get quite jumpy at times like this," said Charlie. "If you're jumpy and you're as dumb as those guys, you'd want a system so you wouldn't shoot your own men. Whistling was what they came up with. It also has the added bonus that guards wouldn't be in the same area together covering the same ground. Sure, there's no way to tell who's whistling."

Lance shook his head. This confirmed his long held belief that Charlie was crazy as he asked "Where did Claire and Lily go from here?"

"This is only the outer perimeter," said Lance." We've got to find Mona and George, then we're going to have to search the labs for Theresa. Stick close and if this is the general class of security, we should be fine."

Keeping low, Charlie made his way to the front of the unguarded office. He ducked under the windows, careful not to scrape the door. A guard turned the corner in front of him. In a flash, Lance was on top of the guy hitting him with one punch to the temple. They landed heavily on the grass, the smaller man already unconscious. Charlie made a low whistling sound behind him.

"Guess you're good for something, Lance." said Charlie.

Lance gave Charlie a dirty look taking the prone man's 203. He reached down and searched the man's belt pouches for magazines quickly clipping them onto his own belt with well practiced precision.

He held the gun in its ready position. "This should close the odds a little."

"Nah, it just widened them." said Charlie grinning lopsidedly causing Lance to chuckle. 

The dark blue Lexus pulled smoothly into the car park. Claire turned to bat Lily, who was already alert and waiting. The driver's door opened allowing Angela to step out. She pushed the thick blonde bangs out of her eyes, and smiled timidly. She had expected Jimmy to be here.

Without waiting for Lily's response, Claire whipped out her Model 950 Jetfire from her ankle holster, a tiny gun that was easily concealed.

Lily's eyes widened as she said "You told Charlie and Lance that you could not carry a gun into the complex."

She gave him her wry little grin before walking up to Angela confidently. The older woman smiled back at her. There was no fear at all.

Claire lifted the gun pointing it at Angela's stomach and said "Even if I can't get that redheaded SOB himself, I can sure as Hell get his little bitch."

Lily didn't hesitate. She was instantly between Claire and Angela. Claire paused for a moment. The gun was still aimed at Angela despite the fact she was behind Lily. She looked into her friend's green eyes. First, there was no fear, no anger, only a kind of determination as if she could will her to stop with her eyes. After holding her gaze for a moment, her eyes showed peacefulness and serenity. Smiling that wry little smile, she grabbed Angela and threw her into the trunk of Lily's Porsche Dion.

Something suddenly occurred to Charlie as he said "Lance, I need something from your pack."

"But you don't know what's in my pack." said Lance.

"I have a vague idea." said Charlie as Lance shrugged and lowered himself into a crouch. Charlie reached in and pulled something out.

They sprinted across the open space, making for the hangar. It was the most direct route and only cover into Jimmy's office. Making a snap judgement, Lance sprinted, dived and rolled kicking the door open to find George and Mona tied up and Halcroft face down on the floor woth Jimmy on top of him.

"How could you even consider doing that?" asked Mona as she saw what Lance was doing.

 

"It was the only viable option," George answered for his cousin. "You know that."

Mona glared at her husband for a moment but didn't answer. Suddenly, Charlie stared at them surprised as Lance span round, bringing the rifle butt into the attacker's groin in a smooth sweeping action.

Meanwhile, Jimmy checked his watch thinking Angie should've been here by now.

He reached for the phone when another lackey burst through the door.

The man was breathless and said "Boss, your wife..."

Jimmy cocked an eyebrow as Halcroft got off him while Charlie until George and Lance untied Mona. It wouldn't be good if his employees saw an outburst.

"What about her?" asked Jimmy.

The man was gasping. "She...sir, she was kidnapped. An April O' Neil lookalike and a Kim Possible lookalike got her."

For a moment, Jimmy felt his entire world being destroyed. The shock caused him to crumple, head in hands. In a sudden flash, he remembered Theresa and stood.

"That's it, those bitches are going down." said Jimmy as the man shook himself out of the shock. He had heard that people who were close to the boss often ended up dead.

"There was something else, boss," said the man as George, Mona, Charlie, Lance and Halcroft all ran out of the office. "Well, someone else actually."

Jimmy's smile broadened as he asked "Yes?" 

Claire hit her cousin over the head and said "George!"

"Glad to see you too, Claire." said George as he and pulled himself into a sitting position.

Lily, Charlie, Mona, Lance, Claire and Halcroft all watched him clutching at himself like that, then burst out laughing.

George looked up at all of them and grimaced saying "God, that Jimmy the Snake's a total and utter son of a..."

Halcroft's laughter subsided. He, along with men the world over, knew how much that had to hurt as he said "Sorry. So that was you who triggered the explosion?"

"Who the hell else, George? Lance said he got the C4 off you earlier." said Lily as she and Charlie helped George to stand, George himself closing his eyes in agony.

"Aw, come on, you guys are just exaggerating," said Mona as she turned to George. "Does it really hurt that much, George?"

George looked at her, still doubled over and yelled "YES!"

They ran the rest of the way to the complex's centre. George hoped that there was no permanent damage.

Halcroft stopped and asked "Seriously, are you okay?"

George nodded and said "Dude, the only reason Jimmy hasn't gone loco on us is because he hasn't had enough time to focus on his family except Angela.

"Well, what're we waiting for?" asked Mona as Lily opened her trunk to see Angela tied up and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God."


	11. Chapter 11

George groaned and ran a hand along his thigh. The laser had gone straight through muscle but had luckily missed the femur. Mona and the others ran up breathless. George looked up before the pain in his leg made him wince.

"George?" asked Mona crouching beside him.

"My leg's busted," groaned George. "You guys are gonna have to get Project Theresa."

"We're not gonna leave you, George." said Charlie as he knelt next to his friend and tried to help him up.

George batted Charlie over the head and said "Dude! Quit the melodrama! I can get out of here on my own. I need you guys to get Project Theresa, then get out of here yourselves. I've still got the assault rifle. I'll be fine."

They locked eyes. After a moment, Charlie stood.

"You can't get in through Jimmy's office. The window is bulletproof and it's covered by computer operated lasers," said George as Charlie and got into Lily's Porsche Dion." A thought suddenly occurred to him. "One more thing. Make Charlie carry this. I've got C4, phosphorous grenades, and flash-bangs."

"Why can't I carry it?" asked Lily.

"Get Charlie to take it. It'll make him feel useful." said Mona as Lily ran to her car. 

Later, Charlie and Lily sprinted around the building panting heavily. They were beginning to feel the strain as much as Race had. Jessie paused for a moment to catch her breath.

"Lily?" asked Charlie.

"Just gimme a minute." said Lily as her breathing came out in raggedy gasps.

Charlie's heart pounded. He was in the same state, his hair matted to his head with perspiration. He slunk to the ground, sitting quietly. They were both aching and probably couldn't go much further.

"Lily, you ready yet?" asked Charlie.

Lily grinned and said "Yeah. Just needed a sec, that's all."

Motioning for him to follow, she continued around the building which seemed to form a box around the courtyard. The windows covering the vast expanse of its walls were all blacked out or had their curtains drawn. Lily paused holding a hand up to stop Charlie. She stealthily made her way to a recess of the building. Edging her way to the corner, her breath lowered. All other sounds had dimmed and all she could hear was the breathing of the guards. 

There were two of them, both in the corners of the recess. Turning, Lily found Charlie, for once patiently waiting for her to finish. Indicating   
there were two of them, she was surprised when he made his own way to the corner. She caught his arm, locking eyes, trying to read his intentions. Bending down, he picked up a small stone and held it in front of her She smiled with relief. For a moment she had thought he was going to run out and tackle the guards bare handed. Gripping the stone, he threw it across the recess. The large clunk of stone hitting brick echoed across the deep recess. Charlie grinned at Lily. The guards would run out to the wrong side turning their backs on their actual position.

They heard both guards dropping to one knee and drawing their weapons and shouted "Freeze!" Lily rolled her eyes. Reaching into Charlie's backpack, she closed her hand on the smooth cylinder of a "flash-bang." Pulling it out, she brandished it in front of Charlie who grinned and allowed her past. She hurled it into the recess.

They dived away from the hot white flash, arms covering their eyes. The guards' sudden screams rang out through the silence of the night.   
Lily turned her head and whispered "You okay?"

Charlie nodded. Getting up, they both returned to the recess remembering one 12th Grade Science class when their Science teacher Mr Corleone told the whole class that flash-bangs created a blinding flash of light. The effects were temporary but hurt. A lot.

Charlie walked up to one of the guards silently. The man was flailing his gun around but was fortunately well trained so he wasn't firing blind.

Carefully, almost gracefully, Charlie punched the man in the temple, the same way George had done to the guard near the perimeter. He made no sound as he fell. Charlie grinned at Lily egging her on to try the same. Lily, seeing this, mimicked his action on the other man. She grinned back causing him to frown and mutter something inaudible.

Lily swore when she reached the door. It was locked with a keypad. She sincerely wished that there was some way to get in without having to check the guards' clothing. Charlie was suddenly behind her and asked "Lily? Can we get in?"

"I can't," said Lily. "The...the keypad. We've got nothing that will crack the code."

"Well, George must have packed something..." Charlie began.

"Char, we can't get in. All George put in this damn thing is explosives," said Lily. "Nothing to crack the keypad. God, I tried...I'm sorry..."

Charlie winked at his wife and for a moment, Lily felt a slight anger at her husband for his reaction to her when she was being so open. He unlimbered the pack setting it on the ground between them. After routing around for a few seconds, he found what he was looking for. 

Meanwhile in George and Mona's attic, Angela stared at the bandaged form in front of her. Lance's pale skin was clearly visible outside of the bandage, his chest rising and falling faintly. Angela considered this for a moment but Claire finally had some leverage.

"How you doing?" asked Claire snapping her twin brother to attention.

"Let me go." screamed Angela as she struggled against her bonds as Lance nodded and left hurriedly.

Meanwhile at Jimmy the Snake's hideout, Charlie found it, stood and grinned. Lily looked at the C4 in his hand and said "Charlie, I think the guards'll notice that going off."

"And?" asked Charlie.

"Do you want several hundred guards chasing us?" asked Lily.

Charlie shrugged and placed the C4 on the door setting the adhesive as George had taught him to years ago as he said "The guards will all be by the hangar 'cause of the explosion I triggered off earlier. It'll also keep everyone off their boss's ass."

He set the timer for 1 minute.

Lily grabbed his arm and asked "What if Jimmy the Snake's right next to this door?"

"You're telling me this now?" asked Charlie as Lily looked at the timer realizing he had just set it.

They ran, crouching when they had got far enough around the building. The explosion was deafening. Charlie immediately got back up and sprinted for the entrance, a sudden anxiety clutching his chest. The recess was black, the brickwork around the door merely dust, the door missing. The rooms the door was closest to were empty. Charlie breathed a sigh of relief.

Lily was suddenly beside him. He turned, grinning from ear to ear. It had been a very big explosion. Lily couldn't resist. She returned the grin.

"Now you've had your fun and blown something up, can we continue?" asked Lily.

Charlie grinned as they entered the main complex. 

Apart from the rooms devastated by the C4, the complex was brilliantly lit. Its corridors were arranged in rows, each one ending in a gap to allow passage. The gaps were placed in an alternating fashion so one was at the top of the corridor while the next was at the base.

They walked carefully down the corridors desperate not to alert any guards alerted by the explosion by squeaking their dabs on the slick polished floor.

Doors, arranged opposite of each other with no form of identification, lined the corridors. Lily mulled this over in her head for a minute as she thought The people working here have been working here for long enough to memorize where everything is.

They checked the doors along the corridor. Some of the doors had keypads making them inaccessible. Charlie cursed frustrated. Setting up C4 in here was likely to kill Jimmy the Snake as well as destroy Project Theresa. He hit one of the wooden doors with frustration.

Lily grabbed his arm. They paused, the sound of boots clearly audible. Reflexes taking over, they took up positions either side of the corridor impatiently waiting for the inevitable guards.

The boots got closer. Charlie looked over at Lily alarmed. She grinned and winked. She was itching for a fight after leaving George, Mona, Lance and Claire alone with Mona's stepfather like that. They could hear the guards' shouts now which meant there were at least two, maybe more.

Lily braced herself as the first man sprinted past her position. She pivoted on her heel, swinging her leg into the man's face as he passed. His entire body snapped backwards, his head bouncing off the floor.The next man barely had time to register it before Charlie had body tackled him.

Turning, he found Lily kneeling on the chest of the guard she had knocked over and said "Some guys have all the luck."

"Charlie, we need one of these guys conscious to find Project Theresa. They might even have the codes for the keypads." said Lily as she stood. The man groaned.

Shrugging, Charlie walked over to the man and went through the pockets on his flak jacket. Nothing. He reached into his trouser pockets. Nothing.

"Damn," Lily frowned then stood over the guard who was slowly coming to his senses as she put on a Louisiana accent. "Excuse me but you don't happen to know where Project Theresa is, do you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." said the man. Frowning, Charlie looked over at Lily and reminded himself that her fake Louisiana accent reminded him of Daniel.

"Great. We're screwed. It'll be behind one of the locked doors for sure and we've got no way of opening them." said Charlie as Lily turned the rifle on one of the doors, shooting out the handle. The door flew open.

Back in George and Mona's attic, Lance motioned for his cousin and cousin-in-law to wait before dragging a tied up Angela O' Hara to them. Pulling out his sidearm in case Jimmy the Snake cam by, Lance carefully made his way to the edge of the corridor. He quickly glanced round the corridor and was shocked to find Detective Lorenzo Mariano at the door and said "Dammit, I thought you were Jimmy the Snake."

"Sorry, I misunderstood the instruction." said Lorenzo as amusement danced behind his eyes but both men resisted the impulse to smile.

"You sure you'll be okay with the gun?" Mona asked as she approached Lance.

"I thought my boss was Jimmy the Snake." said Lance as Mona watched him for a moment. For a moment, he felt a small pang of concern. Then he shook his head.

Meanwhile back at Jimmy the Snake's hideout, Charlie pointed his gun at the guard and said "Take us to Project Theresa. I've got no problem with shooting you."

"I don't know what you're talking about." said the man.

Gripping the gun's barrel in her right hand and letting go of the grip with her left hand, Lily swung the rifle's butt upwards in a wide arc. The man was lifted off the ground by the impact, crashing to the floor heavily.

Charlie raised an eyebrow at her.

Lily frowned back at him and said "These guys seriously get on my nerves."

The second guard had gotten impatient and followed his partner a few minutes later. Lily's head snapped up as Charlie spotted the guard at the same time. He sprinted noisily up the corridor, Lily just behind him. For a moment, she considered stopping him but after seeing his determined expression she knew it would be pointless.

The guard looked behind him then tripped over the recumbent form of Jimmy the Snake that he had left on the floor as his head was turned. The man cursed and stood as Lily leveled her gun and shouted "Freeze!"

For a moment, the man hesitated. Lily's eyes were positively glacial. He raised his hands as Lily asked "I'm only gonna ask this once. Where's Project Theresa?"

The man hesitated. Looking from one angry 25 year old to the other, he got the impression that neither of them was in a mood for the usual response and said "Follow me."

Despite being an inch shorter than Jimmy, Charlie slung the 30 year old mob boss over his shoulder ignoring the small grunt of protest. The guard walked ahead of them, his expression hidden from their view. They passed rows of doors, each one exactly the same. Yet the man   
seemed to know where he was going. He led them up a flight of stairs which seemed to be placed only halfway along the complex's length. The group paused at a door which seemed identical to all the others.

"This is the place." said the man.

Lily thanked the man before knocking him unconscious. Shooting out the door handle, they entered quietly. Among a myriad of computers was a heavy-duty case. Pulling up the heavy catches, Charlie frowned at the pair of CDs.

Lily looked over at them and said "Doesn't look much."

"Yeah, but these are an actual time machine." said Charlie as he gazed with wonder at them. When he had first learned of them, he was too busy trying to save the world to realize just what that had meant. Something told him that Jimmy could do whatever the hell he wanted. Bring back whoever he wanted.He shook his head.

Lily grabbed his wrist and asked "Well, what're we going to do with them? We can't very well lug the case around with us. We've still gotta get out and we're both exhausted enough as it is. Charlie, you've got to destroy them. It's the only way to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

"Dammit, Lily, Project Theresa's dangerous and the idea that we wouldn't destroy it is terrifying," said Charlie. "Especially because it's out of concern for me."

Charlie shot the two CDs ignoring the slight pang of regret as he turned to Jimmy the Snake and said "We destroyed Theresa, you dumb ass."

Jimmy held his smile for a moment. Then he folded in on himself, head in hands. His body wracked with sobs. Lily watched with growing horror as she saw the all too familiar scene. She looked up at Charlie who still held the gun to Jimmy's head. She closed her eyes. There was little doubt in her mind that Charlie would pull the trigger.

After a few moments, she opened them again. Charlie was looking at Jimmy, gun still pointed at his head, utter disgust and revulsion on his   
countenance. He snarled and threw the gun away.


	12. Chapter 12

George rolled his eyes when he realized that he would need a hand free to open the door. Releasing his hold on Jimmy, he shoved the man aside. Jimmy fell limply to the floor, eyes open but unseeing. George ignored him grabbing the door handle. The security system for the keypads appeared to be one way; after all, who would want to break out if unauthorized people couldn't get in?

Suddenly, for the third time that night, he felt Mona's hand on his shoulder as he thought God, can't she take a hint?

He suddenly felt himself being spun, Mona pushing him back into the door. She stared at him with furious eyes, a look George had seen turned on Angela almost a day ago. Both her hands were placed on his shoulders pinning him to the door as she said "I am getting really sick of you always taking your damn idiotic anger out on me and David. We keep trying to help you and you keep throwing it back in our faces. What ticks me off most about all this is that you're trying to claim it's love for your Uncle Van that's making you so damn nuts all the time."

George held her gaze but no emotion played over his face. Mona didn't stop, everything coming out in a rush of words as he said "You're right. My Uncle Van was right about Surd being a dumb ass."

"My dad said that too." said Mona as she turned her head away. George groaned, any mention of the late Lenny Parker often made his wife sad.

"Your dad sounds like he used to be a great guy," said George. "Do you think he'd want you acting like this? It's been 8 years since he died, Mona. I never knew your folks until we started dating but I doubt that anyone you could care for this much would want you tearing yourself apart over such a dumb thing. Dad made a mistake. I'll admit I made the same mistake. We shouldn't have trusted David but Charlie and Lily are strong, Mona, we're going to survive this."

"George, I've always thought of you, Charlie and Lily as my closest friends. Your parents and sister have been like family to me over the past 14 years. I don't know what I would do if anything were to happen to any of you and I don't want to lose you or anyone else in this crazy ass town exept Jimmy and Angela because of some stupid mistake. God, baby, I love you guys. You are my family."

Mona held George's eyes, searching for some kind of emotion. Seeing none, her eyes dropped to the floor and she released him fully. She reached for the door handle beside him, George stepping out of the way to let her through.

She held the handle for a moment. She was scared, if George couldn't stand the sight of Angela or Jimmy for the crap they caused people for the last 8 years, then it would be goodbye to Villa Park. Perversely, for a second, she wondered if Claire or Lance might have to ask Angela to kiss their Southern asses.

George's hand was suddenly around her wrist as he said "Y'know, leaving through that door may be symbolic but it's not very practical."

She looked oddly at him for a moment before he suddenly wrapped his arms round her pulling her into a tight embrace. After a few minutes she pulled away. George watched her saying nothing but amusement dancing behind his eyes. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she looked at him oddly and said "Go on then, make a joke."

"Nah. Not really in the mood." said George shrugging but ignoring the temptation to grin.

Charlie coughed lightly into his hand causing both of them to look round.

"Don't you think we had better be leaving?" asked Charlie, his arms crossed, his eyes holding the same amusement as his friend's but for a different reason as he watched the two of them.

"Sure, I doubt we have any choice in the matter," said Lily as she helped Charlie to his feet. "Let's go."

Shielding their eyes with their hands, George, Mona, Charlie and Lily ass tried to look into the hangar. Charlie could just about make out the dark silhouettes of several dozen guards as he and George both leaned back in and sighed. George had deliberately set off the C4 as far away from the guards as possible, which meant all of them were still alive and more alert than ever.

"What the freaking hell?" asked Charlie.

"Think of that C4 as their ticket to the next Amy Winehouse concert." said George.

Charlie and George both crouched, George ignoring the sharp pain his leg threw up in protest. There was no way he was going to be able to make the run this time. He had to figure out an alternative route, that was all there was to it. He thought perhaps that he could move all the way around the outside of the hangar, then use the sun's brilliance to blind the guards to his position but he rejected the idea. All it would take was one of them to be wearing sunglasses to screw it up.

They suddenly heard the sound of automatic fire from the other end of the hangar. Looking behind him he saw several dozen guards running from the complex, all making for the sound of gunfire. George lifted the assault rifle he carried to a ready position and heaved himself to his feet, once   
again biting back the pain in his thigh. The only reason he could think for the guards to be firing would be the four of them escaping.

They sprinted out into the middle of the hangar, George gasping against the tearing agony in his leg. Reaching the same crate as he had a few hours ago, he stopped, dropping to one knee and aiming into the hangar.

Shielding his eyes, he once tried to pick out targets despite the sun's glare. His eyes widened in shock at what he saw.

Black figures clad in body-suits were sprinting into the hangar, each one armed with their own assault rifle. Each one took up a firing position behind some piece of cover, taking aim and firing into the packed guards. Despite the guards' greater numbers, they were slowly driven back by the wall of gunfire, their own sporadic bursts ineffectual against the packing crates the intruders were hiding behind. It was over in a few minutes, the remaining guards simply throwing down their weapons and raising their hands. George flinched as soon as he saw them do it.

The body suited intruders didn't pause. Every guard was shot.

Charlie swore under his breath and said "Dammit, George, I know some crap like this would happen."

George stopped to consider this for a moment as the police's timing exactly when the gang were already in the complex and recovering Theresa was too perfect to be coincidence. Which meant someone working for the police or Lorenzo's informant had to know what the gang were doing.

George looked over the crate again. If anyone found him sneaking around, he'd be shot on sight.

He raised his arms and called over the nearest group of officers hoping at least one of them would recognize him. 

One of the masked men or women gasped when he or she saw George.

"Holy crap! George? George Jamell?" George groaned inwardly. He suddenly wished he'd been shot on sight.

Donna Delvecchio ripped her mask off, her brown eyes locked with his as he said "Well, I'll be damned. Here we are working our way through   
some cheap "buy one get two free" guards and we find you skulking around!"

"Which reminds me," asked Donna. "Whose side are you on?"

George raised an eyebrow and said "Didn't Lawrence tell you? Donna Rose, I'm surprised. Imagine you going into a situation like Halcroft sent you here."

"God, George, small world," said Donna as she suddenly noticed the group of agents waiting impatiently for her to finish. "You dumb asses go and finish whatever it was we're supposed to be doing." 

The agents turned to leave.

"Just a minute." George grabbed the nearest man and turned on him with sudden ferocity. "My wife Mona and her friend..."

"We know. We're on orders not to shoot them or you." said Donna as George was patiently trying to ignore the man's attempts to change the subject and strike up a conversation.

"Sorry. I'm okay now. No idea what that was all about." said Mona.

Charlie gripped his best friend's shoulder and said "We do. Mona, your dad wouldn't want his memory to affect you like this. You won't let go of the memory of his death."

"Neither will you." Mona replied flippantly.

"Why do you say that?" asked Charlie patiently talking in a soothing voice.

Never mind." sighed Mona as they all ran out of the building.

Meanwhile outside, George struggled to keep up with the agents, who were keeping up a steady pace as they made for the complex.

"Hey, George. Something up with your leg?" asked Donna

"Yeah. It's been shot." said George.

Donna grinned and said "Damn, the great George Wyman Jamell gets shot by one of these SOBs."

George ignored the comment. His leg was in agony but he wasn't about to let Donna anywhere near his family alone as they reached the complex's wall.

"They went round the side to look for a way in," said George. "That's where I left them."

"Right," said Donna as she signaled to two of the five agents with him. "You guys go into that courtyard thing. The boss said that was the easiest point of ingress."

George's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Mona, Charlie and Lily coming round the corner. George ran over and pulled Mona into a powerful hug. She gasped but didn't try to break it.

"Hey, George!" said Charlie feeling oddly energetic as George lightly dropped Mona to the floor.

"I thought we were supposed to be recovering Theresa," said George. Suddenly, it took a moment for his brain to catch up with what he   
said. "Not that I'm not happy to see you..."

Lily answered. "Well, we were kinda about to but Charlie was being a jackass then we found Theresa and..."

Charlie broke in. "Then I shot it and then there were loads of guards and we had to leg it."

Mona clicked her tongue. Something had been bothering her as she said "I wonder why Jimmy and Angela wanted Theresa so bad? And why did he break down like that?"

Charlie looked over at her and said "No idea. Must've been something pretty important."

Meanwhile at George and Mona's house, Ronnie Parker entered the house and headed for the living room, then noticed vaguely that her daughter's old classmate Angela Smith was sitting on the couch. She felt her shoulders tense. This didn't feel right. She scanned the room and saw Halcroft tied up on the floor and rushed inside into the arms of Angela herself.

In some ways, Angela was big, a total bitch like Mona always said and at least three inches taller than Ronnie's five feet five and must have been as strong as Mother Russia from Kick-Ass 2. As Angela grabbed her, Ronnie elbowed her in the eye and dove to her left to avoid Angela's hands. A second body tackled her from behind and both pulled her to the ground grunting with the force.

"I thought you said Halcroft's woman wasn't back til tomorrow, Ange," said Jimmy joining the struggle. "The old bitch sure is a damned fighter!" Ronnie felt the man who she guessed was Jimmy the Snake hold his shoulder down and Angela began to pound his chest. Ronnie felt herself begin to weaken as she gasped for breath.

"Just hold her down while I give her the drug, okay?" muttered Angela as she stopped punching and nodded for Jimmy to hold Ronnie down while she fished a hypodermic out of his pocket. "Don't worry, bitch, this won't hurt a bit!" Angela said and jabbed it into Ronnie's neck.

"Hey! Who the Hell are you?" yelled Ronnie. "David, wake…" his voice faded away as darkness overtook her. The last thing she heard was "Well, she better by damned be worth it. The bitch'll pay for my eye surgery!"

A few minutes later, Mona and the gang came home to see Ronnie and David tied up back to back. Crap, Angela had gotten free as she saw her old rival sitting on the couch.

"So, the Justice League return," said Angela cockily. "Don't make me wish we'd kidnapped you instead of George and Charlie, Vampire or you'll regret it." A laugh. "Jimmy thought you'd be stubborn but your bitch of a mother gave moi a black eye. I'm not happy about that."

Mona consciously gulped down her outrage and lowered her voice. "Okay, you're the one in control here, Angela. Would you mind telling me what it is you want from me? Maybe I can get you whatever it is you want and you can let me go. My wallet's in my purse, you're welcome to it if you want it."

Jimmy laughed hoarsely and said "We don't want your wallet. Why do you think we bothered coming here? We want you! We should be there soon and you'll meet the boss. I know he's been looking forward to seeing you!"


	13. Chapter 13

Mona peered through the darkness frustrated that even after so many hours, she still couldn't see her surroundings clearly. She, George, Charlie and Lily were all in her's and George's attic and with her hands restrained, it had taken a while to get the attic light on only to discover that there was nothing to see.

She tried to stay calm. Someone at Sat Faith's Elementary must have noticed her absence by now; Principal Halford (nee Miss Gotto) would be calling out the troops. Why was she here? She tried to remember the training Halcroft taught her on captivity and torture. It hadn't been pleasant, the primary goal had been to make the subject afraid and to teach her how to handle that fear as well as physical pain. There was no telling what Jimmy or Angela had in mind. Mona closed her eyes against the dark room and tried to bolster her confidence wishing vaguely that the Thunderbirds and Team America were real so they could rescue her. She repeated to herself like a mantra… This may not even be about that sort of crap…Maybe they just want revenge…. Don't panic. I don't know what's going to happen and that's the problem. Deep breath. At least it's just me up here as well as George, Charlie and Lily. Be grateful for small blessings. I can face whatever comes, I'll manage and they'll find me. Mom'll ask Frank and George to find me…

As the attic light blinked at the light, a figure entered and said "Jimmy got out of the ties, you wanna use the cuffs instead?"

"Go ahead." said a voice on what sounded like a speaker phone.

Mona, George, Charlie and Lily were all tied up as George asked "Will somebody tell me what it is that you want?"

"Bad news, kids," said Veronica stepping in front of the light. "Sorry about the delay but the Gruesome Twosome got away."

"Mom?" asked Mona. "Holy crap, what are you doing? Is this some kind of practical joke? Where's David?"

"Oh, it's no joke, sweetie," said Veronica as she moved in closer, attention focused entirely on her daughter, son-in-law and her daughter's friends. "I heard Angela ranting and raving about George becoming one of us and all she and Jimmy have is a damned siding business? What a bitch, that girl was always set for life. Sure, she had the looks, the family contacts but she lost George to you!"

"Sweet one, Ronnie," said George. "Now, c'mon, undo these cuffs and we'll go and kick those two up the ass."

Angela entered the attic, pulled a gun stopping Ronnie's forward motion immediately and said "Oh no, bitch. Dear darling Mona and her team are our meal ticket, you and Halcroft also!"

"I don't suppose you'd consider at least giving me my gun back," said George. "I mean, it was a gift from my grandpa."

In the meantime, Jimmy arrived in the attic with George's gun and Halcroft as Ronnie, George, Mona, Charlie and Lily all lay shivering on the floor of the darkened room. There was no heat in the place and it was definitely winter here. Remembering his mother-in-law untied him, George got up and began to do star jumps in place to keep warm. As Mona, Charlie and Lily joined in, Ronnie just hoped it would be in time.

"What the hell's going on, Angie? Surd didn't PAY! The deadline passed and NOTHIN' happened!" Jimmy asked.

"So what now?" asked Angela. "We destroy Dr Surd's crap?"

"Not yet," said Jimmy. "Van, get the car. Tubby, get the guns. I don't think Dr Surd'll ignore THIS message."

Halcroft's eyebrows raised and he made a mental note to send Jimmy back to jail even if it killed him. A few hours later, Charlie was on his laptop and ran through the tape again. Then he opened the box gently and looked at what nasty video had been had sent; The film showed a Surd henchman dragged to a wooden table or bench or something, his hand splayed onto it and an axe coming down hard. It made Charlie, Lily and Mona lose their lunches at the sound of the man's screams.


	14. Chapter 14

Michael O' Leary huddled on the floor trying to stop the blood. The dumb asses who did this had given him an old towel to hold against his hand but any movement and he started bleeding again. The fat guy's blow with the axe hadn't just taken off a finger, it had damn near cut his hand in two severing multiple blood vessels. Just his luck he'd get a kidnapper with lousy aim. He'd never pilot drive his beloved BMW Z4 Rachel again unless he could do it one-handed. He snorted. How likely was it that he'd pilot anything again? He could feel his head swimming and his hand throbbed. How long had he been out? He peered into the darkness with crusty eyes. Still daylight, judging by the small chinks of light that got past the metal shutters over the windows.

Well at least they'd fed him, not that he could eat much. So they didn't want him dead just yet but he knew he didn't have much time. He clutched his hand to his chest feeling the pain throbbing up his arm. They'd left right after they'd taken his finger off and Michael had a pretty good idea what they were going to do with it. His heart ached when he thought of how his wife Emma would take it.

Slowly, he dragged himself to his feet. The idiots who did this weren't worried about Michael breaking out now that the SOBs had crippled him. His eyes avoided the bench covered in his own blood then realized that an equally bloody axe lay on the floor next to it. They'd forgotten it in their rush to send that last package to Emma. He frowned in speculation. The windows were impossible, but this was a cabin, solid enough but it had to have weak spots…Maybe the bathroom walls? The room smelled of dry rot to begin with.

He slowly bent to pick up the axe with his good hand. Fortunately they'd hit his left hand and he was right-handed. Judging by his attackers past history, he would be alone the rest of the day at least. He wasn't very fit but he had time. And he had patience. And he had an axe.

Holding the sticky axe with his right hand, it took Michael several hours to chip a hole big enough to slip through in the bathroom wall. He had to stop periodically to catch his breath and try not to pass out. He was starting to feel woozy, his hand was burning up. He thought infection might be setting in. Thank goodness his surgeon kept them all up to date on their tetanus shots or he'd be fighting lockjaw as well.

Finally, he was able to squeeze through the opening and debated whether or not to bring the axe with him. He looked up. Damn! The last thing he needed was a pouring rainstorm. The wind was picking up too. He decided to leave the axe behind since he didn't think he could carry it. He could barely lift it by now and he didn't want to frighten any passerby he asked for help by toting a bloody axe with him since he was already covered with blood. He laughed bitterly remembering a hundred campfire stories he'd told his twin children Johnny and Rosie. His laugh became a sob as he stumbled away from the cabin and down the gravel road.

Michael stumbled down the road. It was a long hike and it had begun to get dark. The rain was getting heavier. He wrapped his arms across his chest to try to preserve what body heat he could. He looked around, never had the forest seemed so menacing. He stopped, hearing wheels on gravel, then ducked behind a redwood tree to listen. A Illinois state police car came up the road and he had a suspicion that he knew who was in it.

"Damn," he muttered under his breath and blended into the forest. They'd find out he was gone shortly. He couldn't stay on the road, that was the first place they'd look. His best bet would be to try to shadow the road or find a stream and follow it downhill. Streams led to rivers which led to civilization and help. He sat quietly until the van had passed then made the best speed he could through the woods.

It got darker and darker and Michael soon realized that he was lost. He couldn't see the road anymore. The rain poured down drenching his clothing and plastering his red hair flat on his head. He stopped in the shelter of a tree and carefully unwrapped his hand. It felt hot to the touch and hurt worse than ever. Well, there was nothing more he could do with it. He re wrapped it in the sodden cloth. He decided to cut his losses and try to rest for the night. In the morning, he'd see his way better. He found a giant redwood long hollowed out by fire and hunkered down inside trying to shield himself from the cold and shivered himself to sleep.

Later that night, he heard voices calling his name. He couldn't tell where the voices came from but he knew that his attackers couldn't let him go. They had too much at stake. Quickly, he rummaged outside his tree and found some underbrush to hide the opening. He had to stay quiet if he was going to survive this. He huddled back into his corner against the burned out bark of the tree and hunched over his injured hand. He felt cold, he was shivering harder. He should be holding his hand above heart level to control the bleeding; Virgil would disapprove of his current posture. As if he could still lift his arm... God, he wished his brother-in-law Homer were here hopefully toting hot coffee with bourbon in it and some painkillers. His clothing had dried a bit but was still damp. His feet didn't bear thinking about; his boots were coming apart at the soles. He ran his right hand over his sweaty forehead. Great. His fever was worse; the hand was definitely infected. He had to wait out those punks then he could try to hike into a town somewhere.

Halcroft got out of his car to find a group of police waiting for him in the pouring rain. A man in a trench coat with an umbrella met him and offered his hand.

"You must be David Halcroft," he said shaking Halcroft's hand. "I'm James Davis, the officer in charge of this investigation. Let's move inside and talk."

Halcroft followed him and asked "Is there any word on who did this?"

Lieutenant Davis was silent a moment looking abashed and said "I'm sorry, no. We've picked up Jimmy the Snake's two henchmen and they swear that Mr O' Leary here broke out of Surd's old hideout and says he don't know where he is."

Halcroft frowned and said "If that were true, this fella would've found help by now, wouldn't he?"

Lieutenant Davis shook his head and said "We've examined the area. There's a hole chipped through one of the walls. We found a considerable amount of blood inside the building and a bloody axe immediately outside the hole. Given the amount of blood, I'm afraid we can't rule out the possibility that Mr O' Leary was killed by thee little SOBs and the story of his escape concocted to avoid prosecution for murder….Mr Halcroft? Eddie! Get Mr Halcroft a chair and some water!"

Halcroft slumped in the chair feeling the blood rush away from his head. No, can't faint, he reminded himself. He isn't dead if there's no body. We'll find him and bring him home to his family, no matter what.

Eddie sat next to Halcroft and said" Mr Halcroft, I said it was a possibility. Mr O' Leary was..is… athletic, right? He could've chopped that hole himself despite…ahh…injuries. We got searchers in the woods looking for him right now. We've got scent hounds out there too. We'll find him."

Halcroft looked bleakly at Eddie. The man hadn't even put Michael O' Leary into the present tense. They were looking for his body for God's sake. He drew in a breath and said "I understand, Lieutenant Davis but I hope you don't mind if I call in Villa Park Police as well? Michael O' Leary's been out there for hours and I want to maximize his chances." Halcroft found his hands balled into fists but had no one to hit. He carefully spread his hands flat on his thighs.

"By all means, sir, please feel free to call them in. We'll be happy to work with them. They have an excellent reputation," Lieutenant Davis said soothingly. "But I do have to insist that they're not interfere with my investigation or handle evidence. They aren't trained for that."

"Damn your theory," Halcroft locked eyes with the lieutenant. "Emma O' Leary said she only wants her husband back alive. She and I don't give a damn about your investigation. Anything that will help to find him, I'm going to do."

"Understood, sir," Lieutenant Davis replied. "Would you like to use our radio to call them?"

"No, I'll use my own car." Halcroft replied and sprinted back to his Volvo Clara.

Veronica, George, Mona, Charlie and Lily were in George and Mona's lounge when the call came in. Hancroft purposely gave a brief account of his visit with Chicago Police.

"I've already updated Lorenzo separately. First, there may be a news presence so I want George on this case. Yes, even James Bond would do something this crazy," At Charlie's groan, he added, "This is the only way to make sure that we actually help each other out. I know these guys are uncomfortable but they're necessary in this instance. George, I want you to take Amy. Put her at top speed. I want you here immediately," Halcroft ran a hand over his face tiredly.

"Yes, sir." said George and immediately went to the garage.

"The rest of you stay here and monitor this place in case Balmy and Clyde return," said Halcroft. "Chicago Police have a theory that Michael O' Leary was actually killed and his body hidden somewhere in the forest. In any case, they're experiencing a major storm system here with a drop in temperature so it's likely that he'll have hypothermia on top of everything else. Bring both the primary and secondary medical kits."

George swallowed hard and said "On it, boss. What makes them think that…that this O' Leary dude…"

Halcroft sighed "The amount of blood in Surd's old hideout's significant. They think that Jimmy's to morons made up a story to hide a murder. There are searchers and dogs out here already but they've had no luck at all. Get here as fast as you can."

"Which kit did you bring?" Lance asked Lucie Lanning as George as he arrived on the scene seeing the large crate marked with a red cross that Lucie was had opened.

"You're unpacking the primary medical kit. I've got the secondary one here." said Lucie as she gestured toward the crate with her chin.

"Wait a minute, the portable operating theater?" George demanded. "We aren't going to need that are we?"

"Chicago Police want us completely prepared for whatever we find," Lucie replied closing the empty crate and surveying the various medical supplies and implements he'd stowed. "I hope to God they won't be needed but we'll have them if we do."

"Do you think that dude's still alive?" Lance asked softly.

"Halcroft's really worried about the dude," said George. "But we are all assuming that dude's alive." He turned to Lucie. "And we WILL find the SOBs who did this kind of crap."

"Did you bring all the equipment?" Halcroft asked Lucie.

"Yes, sir, it's all loaded," Lucie responded. "Do you have a search area mapped out?"

"Yeah, here's a map of the national forest," said Halcroft handed it to Lance. "You and George come with me. Lieutenant Davis, the kids tell me that they've got some kind of DNA sniffer that can track Jimmy the Snake better than a sniffer dog especially in this rain."

"We've got a newly developed piece of equipment that should assist in locating the victim," said Lieutenant Davis. "It can track a person via the DNA trail that he leaves behind. We're hoping to locate Jimmy the Snake by that method. The CSI techs have already been through."

"I think I'll stay outside." Lucie told Lance and George said with a mournful smile.

Lance concentrated on not losing his lunch while George went over to a wooden bench literally soaked in O' Leary's blood and carefully scraped away a sample.

"Are you okay, Lance?" asked George closing up his sample slide.

"I'll be better when we get outside," Lance gritted and forced himself to survey the entire cabin including the hole chopped in the wall. With difficulty, he exited the cabin at a reasonable pace. "While Halcroft's calibrating the tracker, we need to talk to that other cop."

"Well? Did he survive?" Halcroft asked in low tones.

David took a long breath and said "He's lost a lot of blood, Mr Halcroft but yes, I think that survival's possible. I don't think Jimmy the Snake necessarily set this up to hide a murder."

"We should know shortly," Halcroft replied and returned to where Lucie stood. "Nurse Lanning? Is your machine ready to go? And..um..would you mind if I accompanied you on the search?"

"Sure, Mr Halcroft," said Lucie. "And yeah, the machine's ready and calibrated. We can start any time now."

"We'll leave the vehicle here until we find Jimmy, Mr Halcroft," Davis said. "I'm sure the kid dressed like something out of a bad James Bond movie can help us."

"That sounds fine to me and my name's George," said George. "Let's get going."

"Did you hear that?" Halcroft asked grabbing George's arm despite being 2 inches shorter than George. "Did you hear that cry? It almost sounded like Jimmy the…"

"It could be just a wild animal, sir," George said quietly listening intently. "It came from this direction and that's where the DNA leads as well."

"George! Tracks!" said Halcroft pointed out some muddy footprints near a stream. "They look fresh."

"Fan out and call! Maybe he'll know our voices." George suggested.

Several minutes later, Halcroft heard George's voice calling from the underbrush "Dude! I've found him!"

Halcroft plowed through the ferns and brush to find George face to face with Jimmy the Snake as Halcroft ran over to them. Halcroft and George eyed Jimmy who was holding a gun at them.

"How far away did you park that crappy car of yours?" Halcroft asked Jimmy.

"We're about a quarter of a mile away. The forest is pretty dense in this area," Jimmy replied. "Not too far."

"Hey, Jimmy, you don't wanna kill us while you're at it." said George.

"You bet our ass I'm gonna," said Jimmy said as he cocked his gun. "The faster you guys croak, the faster me and Angie can go to NYC. And besides, Angie said she's still better than all of you, right?"

"Kiss my ass, butthead." said George as he and Jimmy started to beat the crap out of each other.

"You kiss my ass, loser," said Jimmy. "You and that pig Halcroft are gonna die and me and Angie'll be away by the time you're both buried."

At that moment, Jimmy started to fire his gun but both George and Halcroft ran as fast as they could. George frowned feeling a deep flare of rage against Jimmy for what he did to Mona 7 years previously and thought Okay, the second I get Jimmy, he's getting his ass kicked all the way to Hell. He's a jerk, damn it.

"Is that really necessary?" asked Halcroft as Jimmy fired. "We try to avoid getting killed for the sake of the state."

"Well, Fatso, I'm glad that you're not gonna make it," said Jimmy. "I'm gonna have some pretty good fun take some pictures of your corpse."

"The Hell you are." said George and as Halcroft moved out of the way, Jimmy aimed the gun at George. Suddenly, Jimmy fired so George dived out of the way which meant Jimmy fired at Halcroft fatally wounding him. Three shots passed through the officer and he fell. George gave Jimmy a good thrashing before holding Halcroft on his lap as Lance, Lucie and the Chicago police arrived to help.

"Holy crap," gasped Lucie. "This is a total disaster."

Lucie, Lance and the Chicago Police all ran over to George and Halcroft and knelt down by George.

"You're gonna be okay, sir," said George trying to reassure him. "We're gonna get you to the hospital and they're gonna get you all fixed up."

"Please...protect...my family and avenge me," Halcroft requested. "Would you...do that..for me?"

"Yes, I promise...I will, sir." said George softly and sadly.

Davis wasn't understanding anything.

"What are you talking about?" Davis asked. "You're going to protect us. We're going get you to the hospital. Everything'll be alright." 

Halcroft turned to Davis and said "Thanks.. for the teamup."

"You're welcome, sir." said Davis.

"Listen to your...mother-in-law...tell her...I love her..." Halcroft told George. "Watch over...Mona, Charlie and Lily for me. Will you do that?"

"Sure," said George, tears starting to trickle down his face. "I'll do whatever you want."

"George...be strong...be strong..be strong..." said Halcroft as he finally closed his eyes and stopped speaking. His right arm fell limp and lifeless on the road. George's eyes went wide. 

"No, sir. Please! Please don't leave me! Don't leave me, damn you!" George cried, tears pouring down his face. Lucie attempted to revive Halcroft but it was no use. Halcroft did not respond. He was gone. George rested her head against the chest of a local hero and began sobbing into it. Lance and Lucie both closed their eyes as a steady trickle of tears came from their eyes. They all mourned the deceased officer as the police cars pulled up.

The police brought George, Lance and Lucie to the station where they explained what had happened. After filling out some papers, they were escorted back to Villa Park. When arriving, Davis explained what happened to Veronica. She then held her daughter and cried for her partner of 7 years. Not everyone was so upset. Most criminals who Halcroft had incarcerated or who had been defeated but were still on the run, celebrated when they heard the news of the demise of the fat officer who put them away.

Two weeks later with all the preparations made, a funeral was held. Surprisingly many had arrived for the funeral aside from Vernocia, Mona, George, Charlie, Lily and even some police officers and citizens had showed. Halcroft was given a very normal tombstone with a stone bust of himself atop it. As everyone took their seats, George dressed in a black suit jacket over his armor came up the podium to deliver the eulogy.

"We are gather here today to pay our respects to Franklin David Halcroft who preferred to be known by his middle name. A hero who worked tirelessly to protect this great city from the criminal element and even saving the entire world on several separate occasions. He was a dedicated hero, a loving stepfather and fiancee and finally a good and loyal friend. While we lay his body to rest, his spirit and legacy will live on in all of us who carry on his memory. We hope that he may have at last found peace in the next world," He turned to the tombstone and saluted it. "Au revoir, sir." 

After the reception, Mona, George, Charlie and Lily all went to Veronica and Halcroft's home with Veronica. Mona's Mercedes Vlad was followed by Lily's Porsche Daniel. Upon arriving to their home, Davis escorted the five of them to the door. George turned to the Chicago police officer and shook his hand. 

"Thanks for coming, Lieutenant D. I really appreciate it" said George sadly.

"No problem, buddy. Mr Halcroft was a good man." Davis said.


	15. Chapter 15

Damn, damn, damn.

Angela's anger had been so intense, so blinding that until the explosion that threw her across the hideout, she was not aware that she had thrown everything breakable within reach into the flames of the fireplace. The bottle of cooking oil, however, had somehow managed to remain intact until its contents had begun to boil and expand finally shattering in all directions. As Angela convinced herself to come back to his senses, she realized the hot oil had ignited as it flew through the air, splattering flames throughout the room. The wooden building was nearly completely involved in the blaze, the floor between her and either the front or kitchen doorway on fire, the front door itself in flames.

Trapped, she rose to her feet, the heat searing his face and smoke blinding her and she used her hands to feel her way along the wall. Angela knew there was a window along here someplace... She reached the corner and cursed.

Damn that former Surd man to get away and kept them from overseeing the operation. Damn Van and Tubby for screwing it up. Damn that moron George Jamell and his bitch of a wife Mona. May their child be deformed at birth. Damn the Chicago Police for allowing Jimmy to get arrested for murdering Halcroft when it should've been George who died instead. And damn Charlie and Lily Bones and Mona Parker's mother that compelled hem to make elaborate plots for their demise. Only to fail and fail again.

This would be the last time, Angela vowed. Failure would not happen again. Her next scheme would be simple and precise...

She reversed direction, still searching for the window.

The fire crept under the kitchen door and moved toward the back door. Flames licked at grease spilled down the side of the propane-fueled cooking range. Then the oily residue ignited, drawing the inferno onto the top of the stove and closer to the propane valve at the rear of the cooking surface.

The same valve that her mother had carefully shut off each evening when they were in their holiday cabin in Switzerland where Angela spent her Winter holidays; her fear of fire was no hypnotic suggestion but a true childhood phobia. A phobia Angela O' Hara had considered exploiting but dismissed as it did not fit in her perfect plan.

Angela had found the window frame and was fumbling at the simple fastenings with little success when the heat caused the rubber gasket at the propane valve to melt and the gas to leak out. Suddenly, a tremendous explosion lifted the cabin’s roof,which just as suddenly pancaked back down flattening what remained of the cabin that continued to burn as she finally managed to craw out of the nearest window and ran near a police truck, the one which held her beloved Jimmy. The burning propane shot its blue flames into the air in a bright plume that could be seen far into the night as Angela released Jimmy from the truck and both ran as fast as they could.


End file.
